Thursday, May 10th, 2018

Nebraska Democrats have good reason to feel hopeful ahead of Tuesday’s Primary Election in light of an astounding increase in the number of voters who requested Democratic vote-by-mail ballots.

More than 31,000 voters have requested Democratic vote-by-mail ballots. That’s an increase of 73 percent from 2014 — the last mid-term election.

The GOP, by comparison, has seen just a 14 percent increase from 2014.

In addition, some 8,400 people have requested non-partisan ballots, compared to about 5,000 in 2014 — a 68 percent increase. That is important because the Nebraska Democratic Party has allowed non-partisan voters to request a Democratic ballot since 2014, which allows them to vote in all statewide and federal races. The GOP does not allow non-partisans to vote on the entire Republican ballot.

“The Nebraska Democratic Party has one of the strongest slates of candidates statewide in recent memory with over 600 Democrats running for office this year,” said NDP Chair Jane Kleeb. “They all are working hard and we are confident that Tuesday’s election will show Democrats are building and riding the Blue Wave to end the one-party stranglehold on our great state.”

Vote-by-mail ballots must be received by local election commissioners by May 15.